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Visiting the Emirates Towers
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The Emirates Towers |
When you enter the Emirates Towers, you’re greeted with a cold glass of lemonade and a cool wet hand towel while you wait to check-in, one of the many refreshing pleasantries that the Emirates Towers offers its guests, especially when winter temperatures are unseasonably warm. “Winter” which ranges from November to March in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is prime tourism season due to the comfortable temperatures that hover in the early to mid 70s, but the famous Arabian desert summer heat has come early this year.
Dubai, the UAE’s premier city for international trade and tourism in the Middle East, has simmered this last week in March with temperatures in the mid 80s, and the heat will soar another five to ten degrees by the end of the week. It won’t put a dent in the festive atmosphere. Dubai is full of visitors and industry professionals staying for the week's highlight event, the Dubai World Cup. Horse lovers, racing fans, owners, trainers, breeders, and the media have congregated this week to attend the world’s most prestigious horse race. The Dubai World Cup is the UAE’s premier sporting event taking place at night under the lights at Nad Al Sheba, one of the world’s premier race tracks,.
The Emirates Towers, part of the Jumeirah Hotel Group, was once again rated the Best Business Hotel in the Middle East for 2008 by Business Traveler Middle East magazine. It is the working traveler’s luxurious getaway in Dubai. I’ve twice had the pleasure of staying here for a week as a photojournalist covering the Dubai World Cup. Guests of the Dubai Racing Club, which arranges many of the accommodations and events leading up to the Dubai World Cup, are often placed in Jumeirah Hotels. Their motto, “Stay Different”, can be seen in the attention to luxurious detail in each of their Dubai properties.
The Emirates Towers pampers its working clientele with separate spas for women and men (the men’s only H2O features an Oxygen Bar and Flotation Pool therapy), a health club with full spa treatment, and the Big Apple fitness center with a fully equipped gymnasium and aerobics studio. Those looking to indulge appetites instead can visit one of the Towers’ 15 restaurants and bars, including Vu’s, a 5-star restaurant and bar that affords prime views of the Dubai skyline and the Persian Gulf from a height of 1024 feet.
The Jumeirah Group has luxury hotels in New York and London but they are most famous for their Dubai-based hotels, including their flagship property, the Burj Al Arab, the world’s only 7-star hotel. The Burj Al Arab is designed to serve as an iconic symbol of Dubai, much as the Opera House represents Sydney, Australia. Built to resemble the sails of the traditional Arabian dhow, the Burj Al Arab rises out of the Persian Gulf on an artificial island 280 meters from shore. Guests of the hotel can choose to be transported from the airport by helicopter or by one of the hotel’s Rolls-Royces. A private bridge connects the hotel to the mainland. At the time of its opening in 1999, it was the second tallest structure in the world and the tallest hotel in the world. It will remain the world’s tallest hotel until the Rose Rotana hotel, also in Dubai, opens later this year.
It arguably remains the world’s most opulent property, boasting such features as an underwater restaurant, the Oyster, complete with aquarium. All rooms are two-floor suites, ranging from one to three bedrooms, with floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooking the Persian Gulf. It continues to garner industry awards, including the title of “World’s Leading Hotel” at the 14th Annual World Travel Awards this year.
Vanessa Ng
Nestlé Library